Paolo Nutini Chooses His Gigs Carefully

When it came time to plan the promotion for his second album, Paolo Nutini had to make some decisions about what he would and wouldn't do. The choices were that much more difficult when the record, 'Sunny Side Up,' debuted at number one on the UK album chart in June and all sorts of offers came up.

Play Glastonbury? Take that one for sure. Play the Isle of Wight? Another green light. Perform on The National Lottery Draw show? Despite a primetime television audience in the millions, the Scottish blue-eyed soul singer had to say no to that one. "Before I sang I'd have to push the buzzer and release the balls," Nutini tells Spinner. "That's the last thing I want to do, man. What if some guy then decides that it was you who made him rich? Some guy's won a million pounds and he's like, 'That guy, I want to buy him. He's my good luck charm.'"

Or, conversely, perhaps the people who lost might blame the button pusher. "Yeah! 'If they'd had somebody else other than him press the buzzer I would have won tonight," Nutini mocks. "'I'm gonna kill him'. Ya know? You're asking for all sorts of insane situations. Don't push the buzzer, that's the moral of the story." He laughs, "Aye, too much pressure with that one."

More seriously, though, the 22-year-old, who follows his European tour with a month-long jaunt across America this month, simply wants to give anything he does his all. "There are some things you can do and it has a purpose. But some things, some situations, if they are not what you can do with conviction, if you know this isn't your thing, then don't go and do it."